Slip-sheet-feeding attachment for printing presses



F. C. APPLEBY.

SLIP SHEET FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. '22. 1920.

mix Essie %%MM F. C. APPLEBY.

SLIP SHEET FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES- APPLICATION FILEDDEC-22, T920.

Patented Jan. 10, 1922.

mwwmo 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. C. APPLEBYL SLIP SHEET FEEDING ATTACHMENT EUR PRINTING PRESSES.APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1920.

1L A US BTK 1 a Patented Jan. 116), 11922.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Tilil FRANK C. APPLEBY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SLIP-SHEET-FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Patented Jan. 11), 1222.

Continuation of application Serial No. 363,493, filed March 5, 1920.This application filed December 22, 1920. Serial No. 432,425.

To aZZ 1072 om it may concern:

Be it lznown that I, FRANK C. Arrnnnv, a resident of Pittsburgh, in thecounty of Alleghony and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new anduseful Improvement in Slip-Sheet-Feeding Attachments for Print ingPresses, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to printing presses, and has particularly to dowith presses for printing sheets of diiferent sizes, and which providedwith mechanism coordinated p the operation of the press for feeding setssuccessively from a stock table to .s platen and from the platen to areceivng table. The object of the invention is to provice improvedmeans, coordinated with the operation of the printing press, for feedingslip sheets between the printed sheets placed on the receiving table.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Fig.1 is a side view of the rinting press feeding mechar m; Fig. 2 partial.plan view thereof; Fig. 3 a vertical sectional view taken substantiallyon the line TIT-TH, Fig. 2; and Figs. at, 5 and 6 sectional views ofdetails of construction to enlarged scale, the planes of view beingtaken, respectively, on the lines TVTV, V-V and VI-VT, Fig. 2.

Since the slip-sheet feeding mechanism shown herein as illustrative ofthe invention is coordinated with the mechanism for feeding sheets to aplaten and for removing sheets from the platen to a receiving table, thegeneral arrangement and operation of such sheet-feeding and removingmechanism will be first explained.

The sheet-feeding mechanism is shown as applied to a Gordon typeprinting press of well known form. The frame 1 of the press is providedwith a vertically movable stock table 2 for supporting a pile 3 of blanksheets, which are successively fed to a platen at. The feeding of thesheets involves two operations, first, raising the edge of the top sheetfrom the pile, and second, engaging the edge of the raised sheet andmoving the sheet upon the platen. For raising the top sheet, there isprovided a bar 5 extending over the top of the pile 3, and to such barthere are attached a plurality of shoes 6 provided with internalchambers which are in communication with a suction line 7 extending to asuitable fan or air pump, not

shown. The bottom of the shoes are provided with openings, so that, whenthe shoes are caused to bear upon the top sheet of the pile, such sheetwill adhere to the shoes. F or vertically reciprocating the bar 5, it isattached to the outer ends of levers 9 by means of rods 8, the otherends of which levers are pivoted to a supporting rod 10. The levers 9are, by means of a spring 11, held yieldingly upwardly against a cam 12attached to a shaft 18 adapted to have one complete revolution duringeach cycle of operation of the press.

In the position of the parts shown in F ig. 3, the cam 12 has pressedthe levers 9 downwardly, and in consequence thereof the bar 5 holds itsattached shoes 6 against the top sheet of the pile 3. After a sheet hasbeen raised from the pile 6, it is picked up by gripper fingers 16attached to a frame 14, which frame is moved by means of the rack 15 tocause the sheet to be placed upon the platen 4, the details and mannerof operation of which parts are well known to those skilled in the art.

Above the stock table 2 there is a second table 16 for receiving theprinted sheets, and means are provided, in coordination vith theoperation of the press, to remove the printed sheets from the platen andplace them on the receiving table. The means to this end include aplurality of pairs of resilient sheet-engaging fingers 17 attached tohousings 18 carried by, and adjustable longitudinally of, a pair of rods19 and 20. The rod 20 is supported by a sleeve 21 secured to the upperend of an arm 22, pivoted to the press frame at 28 and adapted to beoscillated by mechanism presently to be explained. Normally, theengaging fingers 17- are closed, means being provided to open them whenthe arm 22 has been oscillated to a position in which the fingers mayengage a printed sheet. Mechanism is also provided for raising theforward ends of the sheetengaging or gripper fingers 17, so that a sheetof paper on the platen may be readily engaged by them. The apparatus foroscillating the arm 22, for opening the gripper fingers 17, and forraising the forward ends of the grippers, will now be explained in theorder stated.

For oscillating the arm 22 a segmental gear 2% is attached to such armand meshes with a similar gear attached to an arm arm 37.

26 pivoted to the press frame at 27. The arm 26 is provided with alateral projection or roller 28 engaged by a slot cam 29 secured to theshaft 13, the cam beingso formed that the arm 22 passes through acomplete cycle oscillation upon each rotation of the shaft 13. To adjustthe position of the arm 22 so that the gripper fingers may be moved tovarious positions on the press platen, the segmental pinion 2 .2 isprovided with an arm 30, at the end of which there is a pin 81 extendinginto a slot formed in a downwardly extending projection of the arm 22.A. set-screw B3 is provided for fixing the position of the pin. 31 inthe slot lly adjusting; the set-screw the arm 22 may be moved towards orfrom the perpendic ilar, it being understood that the segmental pinionis pivoted on the axis 23, and that the segmental pinion 25 is, when themechanism is not in operation, held in fixed position by the slot cam29.

For opening the gripper fingers 17, the rod 20 is provided withsegmental pinions 842 (Fig. 3) which mesh with racks 35, longituoinallymovable in the housings 18, and having; attached to their ends wedgingmembers 36. To move the segmental pinions 3% for this purpose the rod 20is rotated by means of a vertically movable bar 3Gcarried by the arm 22and. attached. at itsupper end to the rod 20 by means of a crank The bar36 is normally held downwardly by means of a spring 38 acting betweenthe rod and the arm22Q The lower end of this bar is pivotally attachedto the outer end of an arm 39 pivoted to the press frame at lOQwhich armis provided with lat erally extending fingers ll. and 42 adapted tostrike stops as and 4%, respectively, when the arm 22 approaches theends of its oscillating movements.

7 For raising the rod 19 to elevate the forward ends of the gripperfingers 17, such rod is secured to an arm 45 pivotally sup-- ported atone end by the rod 20. The other end of the arm 45 is turned laterallyand pivotally attached to the upper end of a bar 4:6 carried by theoscillating arm 22 and held normally downwardly by means of a spring);47. The lower end of the bar is provided with a roller -18 adapted toride upon a curved guide bar 45) pivoted at to the arm The outer end ofthe guide bar provided with a slot 51 engaged by an arm 52 of a bellcrank lever pivoted to the press frame at 58 and having a second v arm54: hearing at its outer end upon the face of a cam 55 secured to theshaft 18. The cam 55 is provided with a projection 56 which causes the.arm 54k to move outwardly and hence to raise the guise 49when theoscillating arm 22 approaches the platen.

In the drawings the several parts of the to the vertical movable stocktable that, as the stock table 1s raised to bring mechanism for removingsheets from the platen and depositing them upon the receiving table 16are indicated in'an intermediate position. Tn operation, the rotation ofthe shaft 13 causes the arm 22 to swing forwardly, the drivingconnections for such movement including the slot cam 29, pivoted arm 26and segmental pinions 25 and 24:. As the arm 22 approaches its extremforward position the projection 56 of cam'55 causes the bell crank lever54, 52 to elevate the guide 49 and as a result thereof the bar 46 israised against the tension of spring L7. Such raising of the bar 46causes the rod 19 to swing upwardly and outwardly upon the rod 20 with aresult that the forward ends of the gripper fingers 1? are brought to aposition in which they may readily engage a printed sheet. Also when the22 approaches its forward movement, the finger d2 of the pivoted armstrikes the stop 44: and causes the pivoted arm 89 and thelongitudinally movable bar 36 attached to it to move downwardly, withthe result that the rod 20 is rotated to cause the wedges 36 to open thegripper fingers 17. When the arm 22 begins its backward oscillation, thefinger 42 moves from the stop 44 and the spring 38 causes the ear 46 tomove downwardly so that tho gripper fingers may close upontlie sheetbetweenthem. uring the beginning ofthe backward movement of arm 22 thepress platen moves in the same direction so that the slieet remains inthe grippers. 17 until they are closed. As the arm 22 approaches the endof its backward oscillation, the finger -11 engaged the stop 4L3 withthe result that the gripper fingers are opened to permit the engagedsheet to fall upon the receiving table 16. This completes the cycle ofoperation which is repeated for each cycle of operation of the press.

' While the present invention may be used with various forms ofsheet-feeding and re' moving); mechanism, it is preferably used with themechanism shown herein and just described. For feeding slip sheetsbetween the printed sheets, there is provided a slipshoet table, meansfor separating the slip sheets successively from a pile thereof, andmeans fo transferring the slip sheets from the slip-sheet table to thereceiving table.

The slip-sheet table, indicated at 60, is meter-ably attached by meansof arms (31 2, so

the. pile of blank sheets against the shoes (3, the slip-sheet tablewill be similarly raised. The slip sheets are preferably successivelyseparated fro'm a pile 62 thereof by raising the edge of the. uppersheet. For this pur pose there is preferably provided suction mechanismsimilar to that used in the sheetfeedin mechanism described above. Suchsection mechanism, as shown in the illustrative embodiment of theinvention, comprises a horizontally disposed bar 63 to which there areadjustably attached a plurality of suc tion shoes 6%. As seen in Figs. 5and 6, each shoe is provided interiorly with a chamber 65, the lowerwall of which is provided with perforations 6G. The chambers 65communicate with a flexible branch air line 67 extending from the mainsuction line or conduit 68, which later communicates with a suitable airpump or fan. For ad- ]USi.l11j the shoes G l upon the bar 63, such barmay be provided with a plurality of recesses (59, and each shoe may beprovided with a spring-pressed rod 70. By moving the rod 70 outwardly,the shoe may he slid along the bar 63 to any desired position and lockedin such position by releasing the rod 7 O to permit its inner end toengage one of the recesses 69.

The vertical reciprocation of the bar is aitected simultaneously withthe vertical reciprocation oi" the bar 5 of the sheet-teeding mechanism.In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, this is accomplished byconnecting the bars 5 and 63 to each other by means of arms 71, whichare suitably guided by the press frame to cause them to properly riseand tall with the bar 5. Thus, each time a sheet is raised from thestock pile 3, a sheet is also raised from the slip-sheet pile 62.

For transferring sheets from the slipsheet pile to the receiving table16, gripper fingers are preferably adjustably attached to the rods 19and 20. As particularly illustrated in Fig. l, each pair of gripperfingers may comprise a frame 72, provided at its end with a finger 7 3,and havin pivoted to it, as at 74-, a second finger 75. Each finger 75is urged upwardly by means of a spring 76, and is normally held closedupon the finger 7 3 by means or a tongue or wedge 77 provided with arack 7 8 which meshes with a segmental pinion 79 attached to the rod 20.Thus, when the rod 20 is rotated to open the gripper fingers 17 torelease a sheet being carried from the platen, the tongue 77 is movedaway from the pivot point 7% to permit the finger 75 to rise and therebypermit a slip-sheet to enter between it and the finger 7 3. On theforward oscillation of the arm 22 the slip-sheet is carried by the pairsof gripper fingers 7 3, 75, and is released therefrom and permitted tofall upon the last printed sheet received by the receiving table 16, thegripper fingers 75 being per itted to be opened by the springs 76 whenthe rod 20 is rotated to cause the gripper fingers 17 to open to engagea sheet upon the platen i.

The operation of the mechanism for removing sheets from the platen andplacing them upon the receiving table has already been explained. Whenthe arm 22 approaches the end of its backward stroke the downwardmovement or the bar caused by the finger striking the stop opens thefingers 7 3, 7 5, simultaneously with the opening of the .118'813 or gr7. ihe fingers 73, 75 at this time engage slipsheet which is raised fromthe top of one pile 62, and the finger l7 releases the printed sheet sothat it may fall upon the receiving table 16. When the arm 22 movesforwardly, the finger 75 closes 1.9011 the linger 7 8 and thereby gripsthe sip-sheet which carried from the slip-sheet taole to the receivingtable. This slip-sheet is dropped from the fingers 73, 75 when thefingers 17 are open to receive a sheet from tae platen. The generalresult is that printed and slip sheets are placed in alternation uponthe ceiving table 16.

This application is a continration or my pending application, Serial No.863, 19.),

filed March 5, 1920.

According to the provisions ent statutes, 1 have described the l i. Iand operation of invention together with the construction which I nowconsider represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire tohave it understood that *ithin the scope of the appended claims. theinvention may be practiced by other forms of construction notparticularly shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a printing press the combination with a stock table, a platen, areceiving table, and coordinated mechanism for feeding sheetssuccessively from the stock table to the platen and from the latter tothe receiving table; of a slipsheet table, means coordinated with saidmechanism for successively raising sheets from the slip-sheet table, andmeans attached to and movable by said mechanism for engaging a raisedsheet and transferring it to said receiving table in alternation witheach printed sheet placed upon the receiving table by said mechanism.

} 2. In a printing press, the combination with a stock table, a platen,a receiving table, and coordinated mechanism teeding sheets successivelyfrom the stock table to the platen and from the latter to the receivingtable; of a slip-sheet table, means coordinated with said mechanism forsucces sively raising sheets from the slip-sheet table, and gripperfingers attached to and movable by said mechanism for engaging a raisedsheet and transferring it to said receiving table in. alternation witheach printed sheet placed upon the receiving table by said mechanism.

3. In a printing press, the combination with ,a stock table, a platen, areceiving table,

and coordinated mechanism for feeding sheets successively from the stocktable to the platen and from the latter-to the receiving table; ofslip-sheet table, suction. shoes movable in coordination with saidfeeding mechanisn'i to successively raise sheets from the slip-so eat 1.hie, d gripper movable by said feedin mechanism to engage araised sheetand transfer it to said receiving" table. i. -.n a printing; press, hecombination a vertically movable stock table, means including avertically movable member for successively raising sheets from the stocktable, a slip-sheet table, means inched-to and movable by said memberfor successively raising sheets from the slip-sheet table, a platen,means for transferring sheets from the stock table to the platen, a recing table, and an oscillating arm provide; with means operative whensaid arm is moved in one direction to transfer a sheet from the platento the receiving table and operative when the arm is moved in theopposite direction to transfer a sheet from the slip-sheet table to thereceiving table. 5. In a printing press the combination with a stocktable, a platen, a receiving table, and means for transferring sheetsfrom the stock table to the platen; of a slipsheet table, an oscillatingarm, gripper fingers attached to and projecting from opposite sides ofsaid arm, and means for causing the gripper fingers on one side of saidarm to transfer a sheet from said platen to the receiving table duringone stroke of the arm and for causing'the'gripper fingers on the otherside oi sald arm to trani cr .a sheet from the slip-sheet table to thereceiving no e lurin the o 3 )osite stroke of said arm. W1 s ii 6.121 aprintingpress, the combination with vertically movable stool: table, apiaten, areceiving table, and coordinated mechanism for feeding sheetssuccessively 42,, 1.1 a 1. 1. 4.} t J! i, iiom the SLOCA ta e R10 R1 1epia en allh near the latter to the receiving table; of a slipsheet tableattached to and vertically movable with said stock table, meansmovablein coordination with said feeding mechanism to successively raise sheetsfrom the slip 'sheet table, and means monable by said feeding mechanismto engage a raised sheet and transter it to said receiving table.

7. In a printing press, the combination of a stock table, a slip-sheettable, means for successively separating sheets from the slipsheettable, a platen, means for transferring sheets from the stock table tothe platen, a receiving table, and an oscillating arm pro vided withmeans operative When said arm is moved in one direction to transfer asheet from the platen to the receiving-table and my hand. 7

V FRANK C. APPLEBY. Witness: I I

EDWIN O. JOHNS.

